Electric switch



Jan. 2, 1951 L. DAY 2,536,914

ELECTRIC SWITCH Filed 061;. 22, 1945 U m rllll lllllllolllgs INVENTOR.LESLIE DAY Patented Jan. 2, 1951 Lcsliellag, .fihicagn; 111., assignorof-one-lialfto Lamar 1:.Day; St; George; N.

Applicationaflctoher: 22, 1945;.SeriaLNoM623312 This: invention relates;to. switches: generally I and;- more; particularly: to electric:switches for useinelectrical systems. fr:contro1ling;thebrakesl of?railroad tr.ains,-,. this. application. being; a. division; of;applicantis: copending; apnlication,v for. Gontrolsystems- SeriahNm.45.3.,8.7;2', filed August. 6;, 1942, nowBatenir No; 2;391:',228;;.,December 18., 19 5;.

Arr; object. of; intention: is; to; provide an electrical; switch.which; may baa attached; to; raili way. cars 821Id=S0, positionediaszto;be actiialter};-v

upon. derailment; at: said; cars; and; (2.0:? there llw control.theelectrical; brake: control. systenr- Another: object ofif themention; is: to. provide a devicerofi: this:v character having a;control mems bez: adaptedito be. PQSitiOHGdLJSOF.asitoi-strike aii railand beeactuated upon:derailment oi 'the' car-c.

Stillanother objecfiof theinventionsisato pro vid'e-a a device ofi thischaractephaving" yielding? means incorporated therein: which willgene-rany prevent injury to the switch when the control member strikes -a rai'l'andis actuatedl Still another; objectiof the invention: is -to prc videardevice ofithi' character oi simpleconstruc ticrr-andoperation andthatisz turdy andreliable:

Other objects and advantages: of the invention beapparent to: thosesin-lied? in the; art" from th following description or may"- beascertained froma study ofi'the accompanying drawihge in; whiclroneembodiment of thei'mreniiion has been shown. It will be -evident thatthe -principles'of the" invention may be; incorporated invarious"fcrms-a-nd l contemplate the-employmentwf'amr structures; arrangements;or modes-of operation that are-properly*within thesc'cp'e ofthe appended claims: 7 1

Hrthe drawingsr Figure 1 is an end view; partly'irr sectiomcf-fa switchembodying the invention;

figure are a view' of same; partly'i'rr sectiom takenat'rightanglesrelative' to Figural; and

Figure sis asectionalviewtakerr on line -3? ofFigurerl.

Referring to, the" drawings" there are a pair. of!

U'-shapedframe.members. [10. secured; toithe spring;

plate l1!" ofa railroad cannot. show-mby bolts L2, The; members. IIIare. spaced. apartandi receive. therebetween amovable switch memberincluding. a body portion. IA. having. laterally, extending; shafts L5.pivotedin. respective. frame members IIL. Theend'tportion ofeach.shat.-l-.6-is provided. with'a. sleevev l.8.-. oi; electricalinsulating material. such.as..Bakelite. or. the'like. Within thesmemar-cnthsi. (.01. zea -r) and projects outwardly longitudinally of said?body, |4. Caps 2'01 and. 22 are screwed; on the upper; and? lower endsrespectively of said'i pipe and. said caps. abut. against respectiveadjacent ends. ofthe body I141 Cap. 20" closes, the upper" end. of. body[4 and? can 22j is. provided with a. square. opening. in. which. is.slidably received a: rod". 2.4i which is square. in. cross section,said'rodi' havinggaliead zfiwitlii'nthepipe. 1.9 and'is adapt:

ed: to slide. freely therein... Aspring 28, r.eacting against. cap. 20.andlhead; 26f yieldingly urges. rod

24 outwa-rdly.., Thelower endlofJrodJ; 2'4. is pro:

vided' with. a. block. 3!] of. steel or. other suitable: material which.is received; on. a... reduced. portion; 3220f rod 2.4L. Thefree; end'ofthe reduced portion 3.2L- is,.overturned. at. for retention. of" saidblock: on.r,od 24.

Semi-circular. electrical. contact. members. 3E are disposed adjacent.oppositesides of. the movable switch. member.. The. semi-circular mem.here 36 include lateral arms 38 adjacent to the. respective: ends,thereof,, said. arms. having end portions secured to respective. framemembers; Hi by bolts or. screwsAZ, thus holding said.con;

tact members. in position. and. grounding them,

to. the. frame. of. the. car. through frame members. l'fl' and'spri'ngplate HI The contact members 36 are di'sposedin .paral lel planes.between. which; the. switch. member.v is adapted. to. swing... and; theradiusv of said. contact members. coincidewith the, radius of the. path;offthe. upper. end. of. said". switch. member... The. positioning and.spacing, of; the contact members. 36.. is. such that whenv the. switch.member. swings from. a vertical: position the. upper.v end. thereof;which. is showlras comprising thecap 20, will; contact. same... Howeven.to. prevent"- contact. bfir tween the. switch memberand the. contact:menubers whentheibrmer is in a vertical. position, said.v contact Imembers. are v provided with central. U -shaped. portions. which extendoutwardly and; in. which blocksv Mare. secured by screws 46 or by anyother suitable-means. The blocks 4.4- are. f; Bakelite? fibre or. other;suitable.- electrical;

insulating. material. andhave. opposed concave;

portions 45 in which the. cap 20 is received, the resilienceof the.contactmembers-urges the blocks 44.! against. the cap. Z0. and. normallyretains theswitch member inits vertical position.

A. wire 41? of the electrical circuit. is. secured?- to. the body why ascrew 48.. Inasmuch as the: switch member. is: insulated: by sleeves l8from? the. frame.- members: in. no: electric, current. will; flow.-through:the.switchuwhm,.the: switch member:

her. ll'iisamipe lB eachl endogwhich islthreadedi is; ii -the. verticalip sm can. 2 is;

held against contact with the contact members 36 by the blocks 44.

The switches of the embodiment shown are located on the spring plateswith the blocks located above the top plane of the rails and outwardlythereof. Considering a single switch, upon derailment of a car carryingsaid switch, the block 30 thereof will strike the top or ball of therail, not shown. The rod 24 is forced upwardly, compressing the spring28 which absorbs the resulting shock. At the same time the forwardmotion of the car will cause the movable switch member to swing aindicated by the dotted line 52 in Figure 1. The upper end of the switchmember will swing into contact with the contact members and complete thecircuit through the switch thus closing the control circuit of the trainwhich in turn effects operation of the main circuit and the applicationof the brakes as fully described in the above referred to application,Serial No. 453,872.

In order to use a switch of this character in a closed circuit system itwould be necessary to arrange the contact members so that when themovable switch member is vertical there would be an electrical contactbetween members 35 and said movable switch member, and when said switchmember is swung out of the vertical position the electrical contactwould be broken.

-If desired, a casing or cover 54 may be provided to enclose the switchand said casing may be secured by indentations 56 therein whichengagethe upper edge of the lower horizontal portions of the framemembers H]. A slot 58 is then provided in the bottom side of the casingin which the depending portion of the movable switch member is received,said slot being wide enough to prevent contact of the switch member withthe sides thereof and long enough to permit swinging of the switchmember for completion of the circuit through the switch.

' It will be understood that many variations of the invention can bemade from the disclosed embodiment and it is not intended that the scopethereof shallbe limited to the form shown and described, nor otherwisethan by the terms of the appended claims.

:I claim: I

l.'In an electrical switch for the circuit of an electrical system forcontrolling the application of brakes of railroad trains: a frame; ahollow swingable member pivotally mounted in the frame and having anannularly shaped head adjacent the upper end; a plunger having a portionthereof adapted to be slidably received in the depending end of saidhollow swingable member, said plunger normally extending outwardly ofthe lower end of said member; yielding means adapted to urge the plungerto its outward position and cushion sudden inward movement thereof; apair of resilient arcuate shaped contacts spaced apart and disposed onopposite sides of the head of said swingable member, said ,contactshaving a radius substantially coincidentalwith the path of said headand. adapted to be slidably contacted by said head when the latterswings in either direction from a substantially vertical position, andeach of said contacts having a centrally U-shaped outwardly extendingoffset portion; and a piece of insulating material secured in each ofsaid offset portions, the inner faces of said insulating pieces beingconcave for the reception of the head of said swingable member and forreleasably retaining said swingable member'in a substantially verticalposition when 4 the switch is operably mounted on a train unit.

2. The invention defined by claim 1, wherein the plunger is providedwith a cross member adjacent the lower free end thereof.

3. In an electrical switch for the circuit of an electrical systemcontrolling the application of air brakes on a railroad train: a frame;a hollow swingable member pivotally mounted in the frame; a plungerhaving a portion thereof adapted to be slidably received in the hollowswingable member, said plunger normally extending outwardly of one endof said member;

apart adjacent the free end of said plunger adapted to contact the railof a track upon derailment of the train; yielding means adapted toresist inward movement of the plunger; a resilient. contact member ofsubstantially arcuate shape adjacent the opposite end of the swingablemember; insulating means for releasably holding the swingable member ina predetermined position out of electrical contact with the contactmember, said insulating means being yieldably urged against saidswing-able mem'-' ber by said contact member and said swingable memberbeing adapted to be swung to another position whereat it makes anelectrical contact with said contact member; and means for insulatingone of said members from the frame.

4. In an electrical switch for the circuit of an electrical system iorcontrolling the application of brakes of railroad trains: a frame; ahollow swingable member pivotally mounted in the frame.

and having an annularly shaped head adjacent the upper end; a plungerhaving a portion thereof adapted to be slidably received in the depend'ing end of said hollow swingable member, said plunger normally extendingoutwardly of the lower end of said member; yielding means adapted tourge the plunger to its outward position and cushion sudden inwardmovement thereof; a pair of resilient arcuate shaped contacts spacedapart and disposed on opposite sides of the head of said swingablemember in planes parallel to the path of movement of said swingablemember,

said contacts having a radius substantially coin-:

cidental with the path of said head and adapted to be slidably contactedby said head with a wiping action when the latter swings in eitherdirection from a substantially vertical position, and eachof saidcontacts having a centrally U-shaped outwardly extending offset portion;and a piece of insulating material secured in each of said offset:-

portions, the inner faces of said insulating pieces being concave forthe reception of the head of said swingable member and for releasablyretaining said swingable member in a substantially vertical positionwhen the switch is operabl mounted on a train unit.

5. In a self contained electrical switch: a frame wherein is a pivotedlever contact member havsaid pivoted contact member to a pos tionwhereat it contacts said fixed contact member.

6. In an electrical switch for the circuit of an electrical system forcontrolling the application of brakes of railroad trains: a frame havinga pivoted contact member including a yielding telescoping part; a fixedswitch part including a resil ient generally arcuate fixed contactmember having a generally U-shaped portion; insulating means secured insaid U-shaped portion, said switch part being biased toward the pivotedcontact lever to frictionally maintain the status quo of an electriccircuit when established by external means actuating the pivoted contactmember to a position whereat it contacts said fixed contact member; anda cross member secured adjacent the outward end of the yieldingtelescoping part, said cross member being positioned transversely to thepath of movement of the pivoted contact member.

7. In an electrical switch for an electrical system controlling theapplication of air brakes on a railroad train: a support; a swingablecontact member pivotally mounted on the support; a plungertelescopically associated with said swingable contact member; a partadjacent the free end of said plunger adapted to contact a track railupon derailment of the train; yielding means adapted to resisttelescoping movement of the plunger; means, including a fixed resilientelectric current conducting contact member and insulating means carriedthereby for insulating a part of the contact member from the swingablemember, said contact member being disposed adjacent the opposite end ofthe swingable member and being substantially arcuate in shape with theradius substantially coincidental with the path of movement of saidopposite end of the swingable member, said means being biased againstsaid opposite end of the swingable member and being so constructed andarranged as to provide a recess for reception of said opposite end ofthe swingable member for releasably retaining same in one position, saidopposite end of the swingable member being in electrical contact withsaid fixed contact member when in one position and insulated therefromby the insulating means when in another position and being frictionallyrestrained from movement by the resiliency of the fixed contact memberwhen moved to a position outside of said recess by external force.

LESLIE DAY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 703,145 Muller June 24, 19021,156,082 Jones Oct. 12, 1915 1,205,549 Kruesheld Nov. 21, 19161,230,098 Belofi June 19, 1917 1,559,407 Carter Oct. 27, 1925 1,609,410Karl Dec. 7, 1926 1,638,983 Crone Aug. 16, 1927 2,191,205 Rogers Feb.20, 1940 2,391,228 Day Dec. 18, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date791,580 France Sept. 30, 1935

